This invention relates to the game of golf, and more particularly to a novel device for correcting the putting stroke of a golfer by compensating for any inherent aberation in his or her putting stroke.
Putting is the scourge of many a golfer, be the golfer male or female. In search of a solution to improve one's putting game, a variety of theories and/or devices have been developed, and frequently have led to patentable discoveries. Among such discoveries is a putter sighting device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,415. The device is removably and adjustably clamped to the shaft of a putter to assist the player in correctly swinging the club. U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,839 discloses a putter having on the upper surface of its head a plurality of angularly spaced lines which theoretically should help a golfer master sloping greens. U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,595 discloses a putter having a retractable pin or spike, which is insertable into the ground to retain the club upright adjacent the ball while the golfer remains free to move to a vantage point remote from the club and ball to help read a green.
Other golfing aids have attempted to correct the driving or putting angles of a player. U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,332, for example, discloses an aid which is attached to the shaft of a golf club, and which has a movable indicating scale for providing an indication of the amount of angle to be corrected in one's swing. More pertinent to the present invention are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,680,860 and 3,826,495, which are directed to a method of correcting one's putting stroke by determining the normal angular error introduced into one's stroke, and then marking the player's putter accordingly. The problem with these patents, however, is that they do not utilize or provide a satisfactory device for detecting the degree to which one's putting stroke is in error, such as for example because of a visual impairment, or the like.
Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a novel device for detecting and correcting a golfer's tendency to misalign a putter face when lining up a putt, a fault which often remains undetected by simple observation of a putting stroke.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a rather simple and inexpensive device of the type described which can be utilized quickly and accurately to determine and correct any putting stroke error which can be traced to misalignment of the putter head.
Other objects of this invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.